Ethel Griffies
British actress (1878-1975)
- Born April 26, 1878
- 4 movies
Ethel Griffies (26 April 1878 to 9 September 1975) was an English actress born in Sheffield into a theatrical family. She first stepped on stage before her third birthday and worked for more than 80 years in British and American theatre and film. Hollywood used her as a reliable character actress from the early 1930s, and she is best remembered as Mrs. Bundy, the brisk ornithologist in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). She retired in 1967.
Ethel Griffies appears in 4 films in The Rerun, from 1945 to 1963. Most of that work is in drama, romance and horror. Frequent collaborators in The Rerun: Alfred Hitchcock (2).
Known for
- The Birds (1963), Mrs. Bundy. Her best-remembered role, the ornithologist in Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller.
- Saratoga Trunk (1945). A featured role in the 1945 drama.
- Billy Liar (1963). Appeared in the 1963 British comedy-drama.
- Thrill of a Romance (1945). A role in the 1945 musical romance.
Career
The daughter of actor and manager Samuel Rupert Woods and actress Lillie Roberts, Griffies made her stage debut at two years and 10 months as Little Willie in East Lynne. Her film career began in earnest with Old English (1930), and through the 1930s and 1940s she played landladies, aunts and dowagers in Waterloo Bridge (1931), Love Me Tonight (1932), We Are Not Alone (1939) and as Grace Poole in Jane Eyre (1943).
In 1963, in her mid-80s, she had two of her best known parts: Mrs. Bundy, who lectures a frightened diner on bird behaviour in The Birds, and Grandma Florence in John Schlesinger’s Billy Liar. Her final film role came in Bus Riley’s Back in Town (1965).
Where to start
- The Birds (1963): her diner scene is a small study in deadpan scepticism.
- Billy Liar (1963): a British New Wave comedy, with Griffies as the household’s grandmother.
- Saratoga Trunk (1945): a supporting part in a period drama starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman.
- Thrill of a Romance (1945): an MGM musical comedy built around Esther Williams, with Griffies in support.
Movies
Quick answers
- What movies and TV shows has Ethel Griffies been in?
- Ethel Griffies appears in The Birds (1963), Billy Liar (1963), Saratoga Trunk (1945) and Thrill of a Romance (1945) on The Remote.
- When was Ethel Griffies born?
- Ethel Griffies was born on 26 April 1878.
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